Alabama man gets 10 years in prison illegally owning rifle and shooting at teen and police
Published 4:35 pm Monday, September 11, 2023
An Alabama man received 10 years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm that he used to shoot a 15-year-old victim and fire at police, federal prosecutors said Monday.
According to court documents and evidence presented at his sentencing hearing, Broderick Tramaine Young, 33, of Monroeville, Alabama, used a 5.56-mm rifle to shoot through the front of a house in Monroeville, striking a 15-year-old victim in the abdomen.
The incident occurred on February 24, 2022. The shooting victim called 911 to report his injury, at which time several Monroeville police officers rapidly responded to the scene. The victim suffered life-threatening injuries that required a helicopter transport to a hospital for surgery and extensive inpatient trauma intervention.
Immediately as several officers drove up to the scene, Young began firing shots from the rifle in their direction, shattering the windows of multiple patrol vehicles.
The officers took cover behind several vehicles before returning fire at Young, who was not injured during the incident.
Shards of glass lodged into one of the officers’ hands, and debris from the gunfire lodged into another officer’s neck and right eye, causing bleeding and injuries that required medical treatment. Young’s gunfire also tore through and damaged nearby houses, several of which were occupied. The shooting occurred a short distance from an elementary school.
After Young’s shooting ceased, police quickly took him into custody and seized his rifle, which was equipped with an empty 30-round magazine.
Young admitted that at the time he possessed and fired the rifle, he knew he had previously been committed to a mental institution and was subject to a protection-from-abuse order in a state domestic-violence case in Florida. Those prior adjudications rendered Young’s possession of the rifle illegal under federal law.
In addition to the 10-year prison sentence, United States District Judge Kristi K. DuBose ordered Young to serve a three-year term of supervised release upon his release from prison, during which time he will receive treatment for substance abuse and mental health. The court did not impose a fine, but Judge DuBose ordered Young to pay $200 in special assessments.
Young faces several pending charges in the Monroe County Circuit Court stemming from this incident, including attempted murder and shooting a firearm into an occupied building. He is presumed innocent in that case until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, and the Monroeville Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Roller prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.